Double Trouble
by Daughterof8
Summary: Maybe Mart shouldn't have made his feelings about twins quite so publicly known...


Mart looked at his wife in delight. "You're pregnant?"

Diana nodded, her violet eyes betraying her slight nervousness but also showing the underlying joy. "Yes. I'll want to have a doctor's appointment to check for sure, but the test said positive, and, well...I just know." Her eyes began to shine. "We're going to have a baby!"

Mart's smile stretched into a wide grin as he scooped his wife up in his arms and twirled her around. "We're going to have a baby! I'm going to be a father! You're going to be a fabulous mother!"

Diana giggled. "Yes!"

"Oh, wait; I probably shouldn't be twirling you around like that, should I?" Mart asked worriedly, setting her back on her feet but keeping his arms around her. "I don't want to hurt the baby."

"Silly, at this point that won't harm the baby," she told him affectionately. "I'm pregnant, not injured."

He looked down into her smiling face and placed a kiss on her lips. "When will you have your doctor's appointment?"

"I haven't scheduled it yet because I wanted to tell you first, but I'm hoping for next week. Why?" Di asked curiously.

"I want to come with you." Mart tightened his hold around her. "I want to be present for every single appointment that you have. That's going to mean missing some work, but Jim won't care – in fact, he'll probably encourage me – and I'm well-liked around the offices of the _Sleepyside Sun. _Getting off work shouldn't be a problem."

"Sometimes I think you have much too large of an ego," Diana remarked in amusement, but her eyes showed the love she felt for him. She stood on tiptoes and gave him a kiss.

Mart grinned at her cockily. "You wouldn't want me any other way."

Di let out a fake sigh. "And sometimes I wonder about my sanity because of it."

"You're sane. I mean, hey, you married me."

Diana just rolled her eyes, suppressing a grin. "And that's exactly why I wonder."

* * *

Later that night Mart was lying in bed next to his sleeping wife, thinking about everything that he wanted to do with his child. If it was a boy, he would teach him how to ride a bike, he would take him to baseball games, and he would play trucks with him. If it was a girl, Mart would forsake his masculinity in order to play Barbies with her, he would make sure she had plenty of baby dolls and accessories to play with, and he would glare at any boys who wanted to ask her out. No matter what the gender, Mart would love his child, comfort him or her when he or she would have a bad dream, and take him or her out for ice cream when he or she got good grades in school.

At some point during his ruminations, he must have fallen asleep, for when he was next aware it was in a dream that mirrored one of his memories from when he was around fifteen years old.

"_Mart, would you mind watching Larry and Terry for me tomorrow afternoon so I could go see the new movie that just came out with Honey and Trixie?" Diana asked, with her big violet eyes staring up at him._

_Mart was reluctant to agree. "Couldn't one of your staff watch them?"_

"_Oh, no, they were given the day off before Mummy and Daddy were aware that they would have to be gone tomorrow afternoon," Di replied, subtly batting her eyes. "I agreed to watch the twins, but now this opportunity with Trixie and Honey has come up. I wouldn't normally abandon my duties like this, and if you're not able to watch them, I will, but we don't know when this movie will be available in White Plains again."_

"_I don't know..." Mart hedged. "It would just be me and the male twins?"_

_Di nodded. "I know they seem like a lot, but they're not so bad once you get used to it."_

_Mart was still hesitant, but when he looked deep into her pleading eyes he couldn't resist. "All right. I'll keep an eye on them for you."_

_Di threw her arms around him and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you so much, Mart!"_

_Mart had been left with a goofy grin on his face for the rest of the day, not knowing what he'd gotten himself into._

_The scene changed to show Larry and Terry Lynch screaming and running circles around Mart. Mart had a frantic, wild look on his face._

"_Stop it, you guys! Pick up your toys!" he attempted to order them. However, they simply ignored him._

"_Larry! Terry! Knock it off!"_

_The scene abruptly changed again to show Mart coming in the door of his house and flinging himself on the couch in the living room. He had a bedraggled look to him._

"_What happened to you?" Brian asked, coming into the room._

_Mart looked at him with glazed eyes. "Twins. That's what happened to me."_

_Brian ducked his head so Mart didn't see his grin. "Care to explain?"_

"_Larry and Terry Lynch are a threat to the human population," Mart answered, staring off into space. "They are little human terrors, capable of doing things to people that no one else thought to be possible. Mainly because there are two of them."_

"_That bad, huh?" Brian said sympathetically._

"_Brian, I have decided I never want to have twins. Maybe Larry and Terry Lynch are not who I should base my perceptions off of, but nevertheless, I have concluded that twins are far, far worse than any single child could be. They have twice the manpower. They're worse than Bobby ever has been, and that's saying something. I do _not _want twins."_

_Brian looked at him with what may have been termed pity – and was that amusement? - in his eyes. "If you say so, Mart."_

"_I do. Oh, how I do."_

* * *

A couple of weeks later Mart was reminded of his memory-turned-dream when he was in the playground with his older brother's little boy.

"Remind me why exactly we agreed to watch him for Brian and Honey?" he asked his wife, who was standing next to him.

"Because they wanted a night out to themselves, which I don't think they've gotten very much of since Matthew was born, and because they said it would be good practice for us," Diana answered patiently, keeping her gaze on the little boy who was sitting in the grass a little bit in front of them.

"The only thing I can agree with about that is that it _is _good practice for us. I'm sure either set of grandparents wouldn't have minded watching him tonight," Mart grumbled.

Diana leaned against him. "Why are you so grumpy tonight?"

Mart sighed and wrapped an arm around her, using his other hand to rub his temple. "I'm sorry, love. The deadline for the paper is tomorrow, and it still seems like we need a few more articles to go in this issue. I've been asked to try to get at least two if not three of them in, since a couple of the regular full-time journalists are out sick and another is on vacation. I'm just a little stressed."

Di rubbed his back consolingly. "You'll manage. At this time tomorrow this will be just a memory."

"Yeah, I guess so." He watched the little one-and-half-year-old boy rip some grass out of the ground. "Let's go get that little boy and take him to the swings or help him down the slide."

"Good idea," Di agreed, already moving toward the boy. Scooping him up and taking the grass away from him before it entered his mouth, she started toward the swingset with Mart following.

On his way there, Mart got distracted by what looked like a single mom arriving with two twin little girls. He paused and watched them, guessing the twins to be about four or five years old.

"Mommy," Mart heard one of them whine. "I wanna go on the swings."

"No, Mommy, I wanna go on the horsey," the other twin argued, pointing to a playground toy that was shaped like a horse.

The mother sighed. "We'll go on the swings first, and then we'll go on the horsey, okay?"

The second girl stomped her foot and scowled. Mart hadn't realized that little girls could look so ferocious. "No, Mommy! I want to go on the horsey. I don't want to go on the swings!"

The mother crouched and faced the twin. "Sweetie, you don't have to go on the swings. You can just wait and watch your sister if you'd like."

Mart could see that the little girl was nearing a full-blown tantrum. "NO! I want the horsey first!"

"Mommy," the first twin joined in. "I don't want the horsey. Let's go to the swings. Now!"

"No, the horsey!"

"The swings!"

"Horsey!"

"Swings!"

"Mart," Diana called, startling him and making him turn in her direction. She had gotten Matthew in one of the swings and was gently pushing him. "Are you coming?"

Mart nodded. "Yeah, I'm coming." He cast one last look at the screaming twin girls and the frustrated mother and shuddered. He decided that female twins could be just as bad as male twins, and couldn't help but be thankful that they were only having one child. He also decided that his fifteen-year-old self had been right when he vowed never to have twins. Hopefully he wouldn't have to worry about the possibility.

After all, if Di was pregnant with twins, they would have found out at the doctor's appointment last week, right?

* * *

"Tell me again how it ended up that only you had the evening free?"

"Honey and Brian are spending the evening together as a family. So are Trixie and Jim. Diana is out shopping with her sisters, as she has been all day. And you and I, who both don't have to work tonight, are the leftovers."

Dan sighed noisily from his spot on the couch. "What, Di didn't want you to go shopping with her?"

Mart, who was sprawled out in an easy chair, shot him a glare. "Funny."

"I thought so."

"You're annoying, you know that?"

"I do." Dan's comment was accompanied by a smirk.

"Then why do you do it?"

"It's fun to irritate you."

"Is it fun getting punched in the face?"

"Now, Mart, I assumed you were smarter than that. Surely you know the answer to that question."

Mart growled. "Knucklehead."

"Bird-brain. And not in the nice way, either."

"Pea-brain," Mart shot back.

"I already used a 'brain' one. You can't use another one," Dan protested.

"Says who, marshmallow-brain?"

Dan snorted and choked on the pop that had just gone down his throat. "Marshmallow-brain? Where did that come from?"

"My brain."

Dan rolled his eyes. "Can't you just watch the baseball game?"

Mart sniggered. "You're the one who started it!"

"Did not. You did."

"Did not."

"Did too."

"Did not."

"Did t— hey!" Dan spluttered as Mart punched him on the arm, spilling some of his pop. "Watch it!"

"Why did we think it was a good idea for just the two of us to hang out?" Mart asked rhetorically. "We're not focusing on the game and instead are hurling puerile insults at each other."

"Dude, why are you surprised? This always happens when the two of us hang out. It's why usually somebody tries to be with us," Dan replied, snickering. "Apparently the others think we're a danger to society when together."

Mart frowned. "I wonder why they think that. I'd be more inclined to think we're a danger to each other."

"Well, that, too." Dan gulped down the rest of his pop. "So, how far along is Di now? Three months?"

"Three and a half," Mart corrected. "Apparently there's a big difference between three and three and half months, and I'm not one to argue with it."

"Oh." Dan placed his arms behind his arm. "You know what would be funny?"

"There are many things that are funny to you, man. I have no idea what particular thing has you in stitches right now," Mart responded dryly.

Dan rolled his eyes again. "It would be hilarious if you had twins. I mean, they run in Di's family, right? The odds are in your favor."

Mart shot him a dirty look. "We're not having twins. We would have found out at one of the doctor's appointments."

"But what if your doctor is extremely incompetent and didn't realize there were two babies? Or what if one was hiding? Or what if—"

"Shut up," Mart interrupted. "We're not having twins. And even if we were, it wouldn't be funny. It'd be horrifying."

"What, so you'd love your kids less if they were twins?" Dan asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No! I'm just saying. I'm not exactly fond of twins."

"And you couldn't have thought of this before you married Di, who has not only one but two sets of twins for siblings?"

"Thinking about twins was not exactly at the top of my to-do list when I married Di."

"But children in general should have been."

"You've made yourself quite bothersome tonight. Why don't you just shut up and watch the game?"

"Watching the game is not nearly as exciting as aggravating you is," Dan remarked cheekily.

Mart pressed his lips together and refrained from responding.

"Dude, seriously, why are you so against twins?" Dan asked curiously. "It's not like they'd be the end of the world."

Mart sighed, knowing it was useless to ignore his friend further. "I had a bad experience with a set when I was younger. And then seeing another set in the park a few weeks ago confirmed what I was thinking."

"So? Those are twins of other people. Not yours."

"So, do you know how hard it is to take care of just one kid? Imagine two! I mean, imagine two babies at the same time."

"I have an imagination, so yes, I can imagine," Dan replied dryly. "And I agree, it would be difficult. But I'm just saying, you shouldn't be totally opposed to them."

Mart scowled and crossed his arms over his chest. "It's not like I'm against them _completely. _I wouldn't, like, get rid of one if we had twins. But I would much, much prefer to have just one child."

"Just how much have you been thinking about the fact that you don't want twins?" Dan asked curiously, seeming to be nonchalant.

Mart shrugged. "A fair amount, I guess."

A wry smile appeared on Dan's face. "Karma is going to get you."

"What?"

Dan shook his head slightly. "Nothing. But just beware. I wouldn't be surprised at all if you ended up with twins at some point."

Mart narrowed his eyes as he looked at him. "Why?"

Dan only raised an eyebrow and shrugged.

* * *

About a month or so later, Mart found himself sitting in a waiting room with his wife. At this point there could be no doubt that Di was pregnant, and at today's appointment they should be able to find out if they were having a boy or a girl.

Di shifted in her seat and placed a hand over her mouth as she yawned. "Mm. I'm feeling much more tired than I would have liked to."

Mart glanced at her in concern. "Did you not sleep well last night?"

"The baby was very active last night," Di replied, leaning her head on his shoulder as his arm came around her.

"Why didn't you wake me? I would have, I don't know, kept you from being bored," Mart told her with a glint in his eye.

"I'm sure you would have," she mumbled, closing her eyes. "But I wanted to be sure that at least one of us got some sleep."

Mart opened his mouth to respond but was interrupted by a voice calling, "Diana Belden?"

He nudged her gently. "Di, it's our turn."

"Okay," she murmured, opening her eyes and pulling back from him. He helped her stand up.

They did the routine checkup to be sure that Diana and the baby were healthy, and then it was time for the ultrasound. Mart helped Di lay back on the examination table, and then he watched as the ultrasound technicians applied gel to her protruding stomach.

He stepped up next to her and took her hand. "Nervous?"

Di shook her head slightly. "Not really. I have siblings, remember? I know how it works. It's more the thrill of getting to see our baby for the first time."

"Oh." Mart remained silent after that, the only sign of his anxiety being the constant tapping of his foot against the floor.

A woman came over to them and smiled. "Ready?"

"Yes," Di replied with an underlying trace of excitement in her voice. Mart nodded nervously.

The woman took the transducer probe and ran it over Di's stomach slowly, pausing at certain points. Mart and Di watched the screen closely, wanting to see every bit of their child.

The woman paused and studied the screen. "Hm. Well, that's interesting," she mumbled.

Mart frowned and studied the screen even closer, trying to figure out what she meant. "What's interesting?"

"There's an extra...hm," she muttered.

"What? What's wrong?" Mart asked worriedly, more nervous than he had been previously.

Di looked at the screen and seemed to immediately pick up on what had the woman startled. "Oh. Is that...?"

She nodded. "Yes, it appears so. How did your doctor not notice this before now?"

Diana cocked her head. "I'm not positive, but maybe he did and just didn't say anything. I don't know _why _he didn't say anything, but I do recall him asking at one of the appointments if my family had a history of them."

Mart was getting a growing sense of unease as their words slowly started to make sense to him. "What's going on? What did the doctor notice but not tell us?"

The woman nodded, ignoring Mart. "Yes, this doctor likes to be sure before he tells his patients anything. I can see why he wouldn't want to worry you before he knew for sure."

"So now are _you _sure about it?" Di wanted to know.

"Yes," the woman answered without hesitation. "I've seen this enough to know what I'm looking for, and there's no doubt."

"What is there no doubt about?" Mart asked in frustration, even though in the back of his mind he knew.

The woman turned to face him with an amused smile. "That there is more than one baby in the womb."

Mart stared at her in shock, and then he turned to Diana as she spoke with a smile on her face.

"Mart, we're having twins!"

_**Author's Notes**_

**I don't own these characters, Random House owns them, I'm not making any profit off of them, etc.**

**No disrespect is intended to those who have twins or is a twin. Personally, I think twins are cool. But I couldn't resist torturing Mart a little with this *veg***

**This is a submission for CWE #5 on Jix, Karma Bites Back. I'm cutting it close (again), but I still made it! :D**

**This is part of my main universe,**_** I'll Be There For You**_**. You'll just have to wait for a later date to find out more about the twins :)**

**Thanks so much to Jo and Joycey for doing a quick last-minute edit for me!**

**Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it!**

**3,168 words**


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